Life on the road...

After 2 weeks on the road ....the van is pretty messy and kids are pretty tired!

Going from MI to WI via the U.P. where we were blessed to visit old friends, Cuthbertsons - THANKS for a fun night and a MUCH nicer "hotel"! A neat but fast trip.Our hotel in WI was very nice and clearly also a MESS! -- I guess I should say lived in :)
As we were trying to figure out where 2 cots and a portacrib were going to fit Tutu toured the porch and said "how about out here?" It worked great... well until it rained .... they only got a LITTLE wet! It was very nice to have the hotel attached to the convention center so the baby could get some good naps!

After our two weeks out we returned home for 5 days. On the way back from WI we had met Gr and Gr K who picked up Chuck for a week with of fun and work! It was different not having him around for the week!
More on our adventures to come!
Grateful to have the opportunity to travel and visit new places and meet new friends!

Can you picture rocks?

Pictured Rocks ....is an amazing display of God's beauty in nature located on the northern shore of the U.P (upper peninsula if you didn't read the last entry!) We had an AMAZING time hiking around and enjoying nature. Nice trail hiking from the first picture above to the 2nd then all the way down to the beach! (this is looking back toward the first picture and where we hiked down from!)
We enjoyed all the flowers which were blooming along the way and just being outside on a warm spring day (they had snow the week before!!!) We were so thankful God blessed us with such a lovely day.Lovely cool breeze refreshed us as we headed toward the waterfront - just amazing!
The hike down was great, thankfully Steve took the baby on the way back up!

My how Eugene has grown :)

Finally at the BEACH!

the water of Lake Superior was refreshing but that didn't slow the boys down, however they didn't ask to go swimming once the felt it :) just wadded.

a beautiful group of children

²² Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

²³ They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

²⁴ I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."

²⁵ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;

²⁶ it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

Lamentations 3:22-26

in Da U.P.

Ok for all you who have no idea what that means :)
da = The U = Upper P = Peninsula (of Michigan)
In my humble opinion the rest of the U.S. does a VERY poor job teaching MI geography!!!

we were blessed to travel over the Mackinac bridge to the UP. The weather was amazingly warm for that time of year which made wading in the water refreshing!

Our family by the 5 mile bridge that connects the lower and upper peninsulas

have you ever held a lighthouse in your hands?

3 cute boys loving finding rocks on the lake!over the bridge we go
(the kids were very worried it would be too windy and we would blow off! It wasn't) We spent the night at a hotel right on the Lake Michigan.
We walked down the lakeshore road from our hotel to dinner WONDERFUL!

Sweet Ria enjoying the lakeshore at sunset

Eugene and Tutu wading out to the sandbar to investigate! Breakfast on the beach how fun!
So long as you don't let the seagulls get your food you're good :)

It was a wonderful start to our day which lead to hiking at Pictured Rocks on Lake Superior,
a post on that will be coming!

We're in Michigan!

What a blessing to see family and friends while we work a convention! We enjoyed the INCH convention in Lansing with lots of great helpers!!!

Encouraging moms with little ones is one of the things that I am so thankful I am able to do as we travel to these homeschool conventions. This convention I shared the HOMESCHOOLING WITH LITTLE ONES IN THE MIX session. God has been gently reminding me once again with a little one around that all my ideas are easy to share but hard to do! But to encourage moms with new ideas and reminding them that each of these children are a blessing from the Lord helps ME too! One of my favorite new lines is

"The days are LONG....but the years are SHORT!"

this was from a Proverbs 31 daily devotional and it really hit me we do so often wish the days away then suddenly wonder where they have gone. I end the session with a verse from Isaiah 40 which was like a hug from the Lord right to me for so many years!

vs11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.

So if you have little ones (whether or not you are homeschooling) know that you are being gently lead by the Lord!! May you be blessed today.

We'd appreciate your prayers for safe travels as we head onto WI one of these days for the next weekend! THANKS
Amy Q

Random Photos

Lots of random pictures in our photo files, because everybody wants to use the new camera

Enjoy!!!

Our camera has a setting that makes everything look blue :)

Hair + Boys = ???

We got hair cuts from the best barber in the neighborhood! aka my mom :)

Then we did our hair and had a couple of cool guys showed up at our house.

Before the hairdo,

After the "do"

Before...

During...

The end result

Here is some of the 'cool' guys that showed upDad got a haircut too, but didn't want to pose for the camera

Caught'cha paying the barber LOL!
~Chuck~

Tea For Two...

I told Eugene he had to get "dressed up" so this is what he thought was
"dressed up" he is just sooooo cute!!
being goofy for the camera
tea and snacks were great
he was a extremely sweet gentleman
the tea party was great for him he loved it!!!!
~ Ria

Happy Mothers Day!!!

My Mother,

isn't she Purty :)An Ode to Mothers
My mother is so sweet
She knows how to make good things to eat
She keeps the house so clean
And is cool even to a teen :)

She has love enough for us all
In Winter, Spring, Summer, And Fall
She teaches us School
And helps set up our pool

We Loooooove you mom!!!

Chuck & the rest